You and I
by Mitsukuni29
Summary: She was a girl trying to fix her family. His was already to broken. Highschool AU with a dash of teen angst and drama. I don't own the characters and some of them are OOC
1. Prologue

It all started when I saw my father kissing another woman. To make things worse, it was inside our own house too. Now I can't even look at that couch without remembering that horrible scene.

It had been a tiring day at school. Midterms were fast approaching, teachers giving out projects as if there wasn't an exam. While I was on my way home I envisioned myself chilling in front of the TV with some cookies and juice. Got to relax first before hitting the books. But when I got home, that is what I saw. They didn't even notice me walk in. They only stopped when my bag had hit the floor from shock.

"Rio?" my father was just as shocked as I was. He quickly stood up and walked over to me while the woman just stared daggers at me. But I did not care at all.

"Rio..." my father tried to take my hand.

"Don't touch me!" I hissed at him, pushing his hand away. I picked up my bag and held it tightly to my chest like I was hugging it. I feel like such a loser.

"How could you do this?" I was intending to shout at him but tears were threatening to spill out of my eyes and I felt a lump starting to swell out in my throat. Mother should not know about this. She doesn't deserve this. She's been working hard as a teacher abroad. I know she must be feeling lonely there and I don't have the heart to tell her what I just saw.

I was about to retreat to my own room when my father grabbed my hand again but this time he pressed something. I could not believe it.

There on my hand, was a 1000 yen bill.

"Here you go kid. I know you've been working hard. Go buy something nice for yourself."

 _No you're paying me to keep quiet._ But I only say the words in my head. And as much as I hate to throw the money back at his face, I find myself holding on to it. Because I realized that I need it. I have to buy some things for school to finish the projects and get myself something to eat and other necessities. Mom won't be sending money 'till the end of the month and I don't want to bother her. My dad walks back to the woman and I don't want to know what they will do next so I quickly climb up to my room and slam the door, making it clear that I'm still mad. I lean back against the door, letting out the tears that I've been holding in for so long.

All this time I was just in denial. These past few days I noticed my dad talking on the phone a lot. I knew it wasn't mom he was talking to and I was starting to have a gut feeling that he was cheating. But still, I refused to believe it. I held on to the image of the family I had known and grown up with.

But now that image was starting to crack.

* * *

I snapped out of it when I heard the front door open, followed by the distant voice of my father. I ran over to the window to check.

Great, they just left. Now I have the house all to myself. I change into a clean white shirt and jean shorts before settling down in front of the computer. Time to vent my feelings out on my blog. I've been keeping this blog for a few months now and it was actually suggested to me by my best friend Anri. At first I was hesitant to expose my feelings to strangers but I found out that they don't need to know who I am. I can just hide myself with a username and avatar.

Now I've met people who share the same feelings as I am. I may not know them either but their comments always manages to cheer me up. Right now I am rapidly typing on my keyboard, already starting to feel better as I pour my feelings out with every press.

After I hit the POST button I stood up and head downstairs to get myself some juice and cookies. I try my best not to look at the couch where I caught my dad making out with that woman. Just thinking about it makes me want to puke. When I returned to my room I saw that someone has already commented on my new post. I checked to see who it was and that familiar username made me smile. It was Kanra-san. She has been a frequent commenter on my posts and she always makes me feel better.

 **Kanra:** Hey Magenta-san! I can't promise everything will be alright but whatever happens we'll always be here for you. BTW your dad is an a-hole.

I couldn't agree more. Gosh, I really want to meet Kanra-san in person. With a hopeful smile, I click Private Messages so I could chat with her.

 **Me:** Good day Kanra-san. Thank you for the comment

 **Kanra:** Always a pleasure :)

Wow she is so nice!

 **Me:** If you don't mind me asking where do you live?

 **Kanra:** Ikebokuro :)

I can't believe it! She lives here too!

 **Me** : Really? I'm from Ikebokuro too!

 **Kanra:** by any chance do you go to Raira Academy?

Meeting a stranger online has never been this easier.

 **Me:** yeah I go to Raira. I'm a second year

 **Kanra:** Talk about coincidence Magenta-san I go there too!

 **Me:** really? Let's meet up!

 **Kanra:** are you sure you want to meet up?

Huh? Why is she asking me? Of course I do!

 **Me:** yeah if you're fine with it

 **Kanra:** well then let's meet tomorrow at the rooftop after class if you're free

 **Me:** sure :)

I was about to say "looking forward to meeting you" but a message on the screen says Kanra has already logged out. Still, I can't believe that one of the online friends I had made could already be someone I had walked past at school. Except that it wasn't the kind of person I was expecting at all.


	2. Chapter 1: First Meeting

I arrive at school panting like I've just been through a marathon. But thinking about it now, it was also my fault for staying up late last night talking to some other people from the Internet. I just wanted to take my mind off things even just for a night because I know if I go to bed there's a huge chance I might remember what I saw and end up crying myself to sleep. I'm just...sick of it.

I head to the shoe lockers and when I get to mine, I check my reflection on the small mirror I had placed against the opposite side of the locker door. I pulled out my hankerchief and wiped the sweat off my forehead. In my opinion, I look fine. Way better than my "geek stage" in middle school where I had glasses and just let my hair loose. When I stepped into high school I decided I wanted to change that. Not because I want to get guys' attention but you know I just want to feel confident of myself.

As for boys I admit I haven't received any confession let alone dated. But I just remind myself that this kind of thing takes time. No need to dwell on it too much. Well, I try not to. But as a teenager there are times where I just find myself thinking about it.

I change shoes before closing the locker door shut and sprinting up the flight of stairs. I'm fully aware there is a rule about not running in the hallways but when you are trying to save yourself from tardiness I guess bending the rule a little wouldn't hurt.

Oh how I was wrong.

Because right when I'm about to reach the top of the stairs, I bump into a huge guy. And looking up at him , I knew right away he was a senior. "Hey! Watch where you're going." he said angrily. I'm at a complete loss for words. This guy is scaring me. His voice reminds me of my dad when he is drunk and mad. My knees start to tremble and I grip the handle of the stairs.

"Hey aren't you going to apologize? Geez, kids these days are so cocky.!"

"Now, now Dotachin don't yell at the poor girl. You'll scare her."

I quickly look up to see who the second voice belonged to. And I recognized the person immediately.

It was Orihara Izaya, one of those infamous seniors. Many people say he and his group of friends are delinquents but he was the only one who got good grades consistently. That's just from the stories I hear. I really don't know them personally. And judging from this Izaya guy he's not as scary looking as the guy I bumped into but the way he stands and places his hands in his pocket gives off an air of arrogance.

"I-I'm sorry." I bowed to the guy in front of me, realizing that if I don't apologize he'll yell at me again.

"Tsk. Just watch where you're going kid." then he and Orihara Izaya continued their way downstairs. As soon as they're gone I continue on my way but on a much slower pace this time. Those guys sure are arrogant and scary. But wait...why are they heading down when classes are about to start?

Huh. Maybe those stories about them being delinquents really are true.

* * *

While majority of the student population hurried to class, Orihara Izaya and his friends were not. They were the minority. They were the people who stood out infamously. Not because of the clothes they wear or how they styled their hair. It was their actions that make them stand out. And it was due to their actions that everyone branded them as delinquents. They were notorious for skipping classes, showing up late, putting their feet up while in class, etc.

But among their group Izaya was probably the most different. Despite skipping classes with them, he still got high marks on every quiz or test which always leaves his friends wondering when it was obvious that he did not cheat. And every now and then he would spout out nonsense on how much he loves humans. But his friends had gotten used to it they stopped wondering if he was on to something.

Right now they were in the school backyard - Izaya and two other guys who were just chilling near the vending machine. Izaya leaned his back against the wall while his friend whom he always teasingly called "Dotachin" squatted beside him, holding a cigarette in his mouth.

"Hey Izaya! Catch!" the third guy named Chikage Rokujo called out to Izaya before tossing a can of Pepsi at his direction. Izaya caught it in time.

"Thanks Rocchi."

"No prob."

Even though Izaya didn't like softdrinks in the morning, the weather was specially hot today that he decided he's willing to drink anything as long as it's cold. While he helped himself to his Pepsi, he thought about the girl from this morning and smiled. How surprised was she going to be later? Izaya almost felt sorry for her - her family was in the verge of breaking up and look how shaken she was when Dotachin yelled at her. Well, anyone can be shaken at that situation.

"Hey you three!" a female voice called out a floor above them. The three boys looked up to see Haruna Niekawa grinning. Honestly, Izaya had no idea what he was thinking when he decided to date her a few months ago. Now that they have broken up last week Izaya often wondered if he was drunk the whole relationship.

"Ohayo Haruna-chan! Looking good as always." Rokujo called out but as usual Haruna ignored him. Even though she had called the three of them, her eyes were only on Izaya. Standing behind Haruna was one of her friends, a girl whose blonde hair was obviously dyed and wore too much make-up. She was busy texting while Haruna ogled on Izaya. They might have broken up but they still hang out in the same circle. "What are you guys doing?" she asked

"Oh you know just chilling." Izaya shrugged. What did she want?

"Get back to class Haruna-chan. I heard Nakamura-sensei is going to have a pop quiz." Rokujo tried one more time to get Haruna's eyes focused on him.

"Yeah he's right Haruna." the other girl stopped texting and looked up at Haruna. "Let's go."

Haruna took one last look at Izaya and repressed a sigh. "Okay. See you later guys." she said before taking off. It was obvious she was pissed that Rokujo paid more attention to her than Izaya. But goodness that guy has so many girlfriends it was impossible to count. Among their group he was notorious for being the ladies man. On the other hand, Izaya was also popular with the girls but he didn't date that much, nor cared about his popularity.

"Wow she's still hung up on you." Kadota commented

Izaya just shrugged. Rokujo narrowed his eyes on him. "You know Izaya you should just tell her if you want to get back with her or not. You guys were such a thing."

"Does it matter if we were a thing? Haruna knows it's over. Besides I don't think she was even serious. Maybe she just wants to get back at me because I was the dumper and it obviously never happened to her."

Rokujo and Kadota looked at each other. They both know it was true. Before Izaya, Haruna had dated a lot of guys and she had always been the one to cut off the relationship. But when she dated Izaya it was the other way around.

"Hmmm...I think you're right." Kadota said. Izaya gave a smug smile at Rocchi's direction as if to say "See? Dotachin agrees with me." and it was all Rocchi could do not to strangle his so-called friend.

* * *

Lunch time

I head inside the cafeteria with Anri and our classmate Mikado. He and Anri had been classmates last year and I was not so he and I aren't that close yet but he seems to be a nice guy so I don't mind hanging out with him. When we arrive at our usual table we were not surprised to see a bunch of manga volumes stacked on our table which belonged to our seniors, Erika and Walker. While the rest of us has brought bento boxes, they brought manga.

"Oh my! The squad is complete." Erika-senpai said as she looked up from the manga she's reading.

"Aren't you guys going to eat?" Anri asked. Our table was round and has exactly five seats that's why we always choose this when we're not eating at the rooftop or classroom. Anri sat beside Walker-senpai and I was beside Erika-senpai so Mikado was in between. "Nah we already ate rice a while ago. Besides, this manga is too good to pass up!" Walker declared

I smile at them as I unwrap my bento box. Sure, these guys might be nerds but at least they're fun, genuine people. Not unlike the girls I used to be "friends" with when I was a freshman who talked about nothing but other girls and whose idea of having fun was sneaking out at night to drink and party. After they called me "weak" for not going out with them I decided I'd rather eat lunch by myself. And that's when I met my senpais. I was eating lunch by myself and they came by asking if the other seats were free. When I said "yes" they immediately sat down and started discussing on who the "best girl" was in some romance anime. I listened to them with interest but when they looked like they were about to punch each other I asked what anime they were talking about. They recommended it to me and since then I've always had lunch with them. When things at school were not busy they'd drag me to conventions, hobby stores and karaoke bars. Though i'm not a hardcore otaku like them that doesn't stop me from having fun with them. More fun than I ever had going at some party.

Right now, as me, Mikado and Anri ate our lunches, we listen to them talk about the manga they are currently reading. They were halfway through on their discussion when they were suddenly interrupted by someone who approached our table and snatched the manga from Erika's hand. We all looked up and I felt myself freeze. It was the guy I bumped into this morning.

He waved the manga like he was teasing a child with some candy. He had a playful grin pasted on his face. "What's up nerds? Mind if you don't talk so loud? You're bothering us." he jerked his chin at the direction of the table beside us and I froze even more. I didn't even notice they were sitting near us, the infamous senior delinquents. The only one I recognized was that Orihara Izaya who had a tiny smile on his face but didn't look directly at us unlike the other occupants of that table. Although he was picking at his food with a pair of chopsticks I can tell he was listening to us.

"Hey! Give it back!" Erika stood up and tried to grab her manga back but the guy was too tall for her. He just laughed together with his friends. Erika's hands balled up into a fist and I can tell they were shaking.

"Erika..." I heard Walker-senpai say.

"I saved up for that you humongous moron! I saved hard to complete the entire series and if you don't give it back right now I will-"

"Huh? What did you call me punk?"

I swear the entire cafeteria had gone silent. I was starting to get scared. Scared that this guy might hit Erika-senpai. Scared that this assault might not be the last one because for sure people are going to talk about it and rumors will spread like a plague.

Then something happened that I totally did not see coming. Orihara Izaya stood up and walked over casually to his friend. He took hold of the guy's shoulder. "Give it a rest Dotachin. Rocchi might get mad at you for picking on a girl." then he took the manga and gave it back to Erika who snatched it the moment it was in front of her and clutched it tightly. The guy called Dotachin (I doubt it was his real name) gave us a dirty look before going back to their table. I sneaked a glance at Orihara Izaya. He smiled like he had just witnessed something entertaining.

"Let's get out of here." Mikado shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"No! We're staying here." Erika made sure her voice was loud enough for that Dotachin guy to hear and I'm pretty sure he did.

"Erika it's better if we leave. It's more peaceful in the library." Walker suggested and finally Erika agreed though I could tell she wanted to stay here to show those delinquents she wasn't backing down. When I got up from my seat I was pretty sure I heard Orihara Izaya laughing.

* * *

Since the last thirty minutes of our last subject was dedicated to "study time" my friennds and I pretended to talk over a topic on our textbook. But really, the rest of us were already itching to leave. "Is there something wrong Rio?" Anri asked. "You've been quiet since this morning."

Mikado and Anri looked at me with worried expressions on their faces. They all know about my "family situation". "Did your father do something again?" Mikado asked on point as always. And from my silence, they already know the answer.

"You know Rio, you should tell your mom already. She doesn't deserve a cheating husband when she's working so hard."

Exactly the point, Mikado.

"Maybe you should talk to your dad first, Rio. See if you can talk him out of whatever he's been doing." Anri suggested

"Try to save my family huh?" why do they have to have opposing views now? Usually Mikado and Anri agree on one thing.

"But Rio if your father does love you and your mom he will never do that right?" Again, Mikado is on point. The more he speaks his view about my situation the more it hits me. He's adding more and more cracks to the image I have of my family.

"Wow since when did you know something about love Mikado-kun?" Anri said jokingly which made Mikado blush. Love huh? If love was the reason they got married and had me why would my father cheat?

Why would he...fall out of love?

I guess I'll never know.

"But Rio-chan it's all up to you." Anri said. "We'll support you in whatever decision you will make."

"Besides you can always crash at our place if you need it." Mikado added

"Thanks guys. Actually I want to tell you something. It's not related to my family or anything."

"Uhuh." Mikado said

"Go on." Anri nodded

"I've talked to a frequent commenter on my blog and we're going to meet later after school. She goes to Raira too!" I don't tell them the meeting place because i'm afraid they might follow me. I don't want them getting worried about me that much just because of my family situation.

 _Yes that's right Rio. Show them you're totally fine even when it's really not_

"Wow a girl huh? Good for you Rio." said Mikado

"But be careful okay? For all we know she might be a scammer." Anri said which made me giggle. "Relax guys. I'll call you if anything comes up."

And after that we proceed to talking about the movies showing at the mall this week. Maybe I could bring Kanra-san along some time? The three of us don't talk about the incident that occured a while ago at lunch. That was just so scary. Besides we don't want to hurt our senpai's feelings by bringing that up. They can be really sensitive about their hobbies. Finally, the bell rings and the three of us immediately got up to fix our bags and leave.

"You guys go right ahead. I'll meet Kanra-san here in school." when I mentioned the name "Kanra" a weird look flashed over my friends' faces but after a second it was gone. "Be careful okay?" Anri's tone suddenly changed to a serious one and so was Mikado's. "Call us if anything happens."

"Sure." I wonder why they suddenly reacted like that. "See you guys tomorrow!"

"Bye Rio!"

When I was sure my friends went down, I immediately took off in the opposite direction, to the end of the hallway where there was the stairs leading to the rooftop. I can't wait to finally meet Kanra! I wonder what she looks like?

But when I get there, the place is empty. I decided to wait. I stood in front of the chain link fence and looked down. And when my eyes met the concrete ground below that's when I thought of something that had never crossed my mind before. What if I jump over this fence right now...will my parents reconcile?

I immediately stepped back. What on earth was I thinking? There's a higher possibility that my parents are more likely to blame each other and the thought of my mother getting depressed...No I don't want that. I can't believe I have even thought of killing myself. This sadness is really starting to take its toll on me. This is why sometimes I don't want to be alone with my thoughts. It scares me.

I continue staring off into the view of Ikebokuro instead. Out there some people are having fun, teenagers like me going out with friends. For once, I just want to be like them. Not having to worry about cheating fathers threatening to ruin families. Just once, I want to be like those careless teenagers in movies where they run freely with the wind, their arms outstretched beside them with some amazing soundtrack in the background. But of course the soundtrack thing is not necessary. I know full well it's not gonna happen in real life - music just can't pop out of nowhere to match your emotions because if it did I would be a whole lot happier.

I was about to check the time on my cell phone when I heard someone walking behind me, stifling a laugh. What the-

"Were you seriously thinking on killing yourself..."

Wait, this is certainly not a girl's voice. But it does sound oddly familiar. With my heard pounding fast, I turned around to see a boy with dark hair and a smirk on his face standing before me. His hands were in his pockets and he stood so arrogantly.

"Magenta-san?"

It was none other than the infamous third year Orihara Izaya.


End file.
